Bozeman is growing and being restored.
If you live in Bozeman, you’re driving the same roads to work each morning that you’ve always driven and you might be caught by surprise when a new building pops up overnight. However, the roots of Bozeman still stands as some folks work to restore and preserve the buildings that have been here much longer. Building from the bones but updating these buildings for safety has been a key goal to many architects.
As they work to restore these buildings you may wonder what they will become next - the building that is now known as “Cooper Black” has a pedestrian walkway to direct traffic around construction and is wrapped with a design to answers those questions.
Behind the Design
The bookends of the walkway draw people to continue walking down the sidewalk rather than the original wooden boards that appeared to make the sidewalk look closed off. The vibrant collage of colors in a pop art style depict Montana wildlife and QR codes that direct people to DTNBZN shops/restaurants as well as live cam footage of our iconic Yellowstone National Park that is nearby for people to enjoy.
The design that resides in the interior part of the walkway depicts a western image of a cowboy on a horse, who may be called Cooper Black, as well as the blueprints of what the building will become. The three floors are depicted in rustic tones that define each level and continue the color block theme that envelopes the bookends of the walkway. The graphic image of the cowboy also reflects the style of the animals on the bookends to tie the piece together.
Community
This project was designed while working at Massive Studios. In mid June 2024, I started this project with Ben Bennett and in September 2024 we got to saw it come to life when The Wrap Agency installed it.
One of the many great things when living in a small town is the connection between local businesses. For those who don’t know, I worked at TWA for a little over two years and I get to continue working with them to execute projects while at Massive Studios. Jadon and Tyson were the incredible installers who installed this project together for the town of Bozeman so a massive cheers to them for making this project come to life beautifully!